GRAHAM BONNET BAND – Lost In Hollywood Again

Posted on December 9, 2025 by Real Gone

In 2024, Graham Bonnet and his band took to the stage at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles. On this night, the intimate venue saw the veteran performer plough through a sixteen song set that celebrated many of the highlights of his long career.

The audio from the Graham Bonnet Band’s 2025 live release ‘Lost In Hollywood Again’ might not sound quite as vital as 2017’s unexpected Alcatrazz reunion in Japan (released for posterity on ‘Parole Denied’), but it’s clear that Bonnet – a man well into his seventies at the time of this show – still loves what he does, and is more than capable of summoning a huge amount of volume at a time of life when some of his peers sound like a shadow of their former selves.

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STEPHEN McCAFFERTY – Monsters And Lullabies

Posted on December 8, 2025 by Real Gone

Scottish singer songwriter Stephen McCafferty first reached an audience as part of indie rock band Return To The Sun, with whom he gained support from Radio X, while still broadcasting under the XFM name. After the band dissolved, Stephen disappeared. It seemed that, despite support from some high places, he wasn’t going to persue a career in music any longer.

He returned as as solo artist in 2020 with a digital single, ‘Spectre of Light’, but due to everyone being more concerned with a global pandemic and everything closing down, it didn’t appear to make a huge impact. Following another spell out of the spotlight, Stephen re-appeared again in 2024, by which time, the musical landscape looked rather different. His songs, however, remained as solidly written as ever, and his track ‘What Are We Waiting For’ – released digitally in January of that year – re-introduced listeners to a composer capable of a sharing thoughtful lyric, but just as importantly, someone blessed with a melodic ear that could potentially take his new material to an even keener fan base.

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THE ROCKERATI – Santa Claus (Has Got The Sack) / Run Rudolph Run

Posted on December 7, 2025 by Real Gone

In the summer of 2025, The Rockerati released the ‘Black Book’ EP, a four song release celebrating a retro rock style that built upon the year’s previous single releases in a way that suggested the Brighton based band had reached peak confidence. Their earlier releases had attracted attention from a couple of major rock mags, but there was something about these DIY recordings that came a little closer to sharing a raw and honest sound.

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MESSINESS – Messiness

Posted on December 6, 2025 by Real Gone

As their name might suggest, Messiness make music that doesn’t always fit neatly into a box. By taking elements of rock and indie, a swathe of older psychedelic elements and a pinch of alt-pop, their debut album shares sounds that are always interesting, even if they don’t always work.

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Listen: Ocean Planet share the brilliantly heavy ‘Devastate’

Posted on December 5, 2025 by Real Gone

Ocean Planet waste no time in grabbing their audience’s attention on ‘Devastate’. The opening bars attack with pneumatic rhythms offset by a twin lead guitar sound worthy of peak Trivium. From there, the Reading based band branch out with an arrangement that feels a little more original when they blend elements of melodic metalcore with prog metal, creating something that sounds absolutely huge. The interplay between the heavy guitars and tight rhythm section is impressive throughout, and on the rare occasion the band lightens up, some very melodic guitar work creeps through an intense arrangement. A hefty and aggressive vocal based around a hardcore influenced growl mightn’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it fits the music brilliantly, helping Ocean Planet sound genuinely fierce.

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